


Better be... Slytherin!- Book 1: First Year

by Safa (Dear_Book_Life_Safa)



Series: Better be... Slytherin! [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Draco too, Drarry, F/F, F/M, Harry Hermione and Ron are still friends, M/M, Mentor Severus Snape, Multi, Nice Severus Snape, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Severus isn't a dungeon bat and Draco isn't a bastard, Slytherin AU, Slytherin Harry Potter, not as much of bastard then
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27319732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dear_Book_Life_Safa/pseuds/Safa
Summary: What would happen if instead of his relatives taking him to King's Cross, Severus Snape picked Harry Potter up to take him to Hogwarts? Draco Malfoy never insulted Ron Weasley, and Harry never rejected him. What if Harry was sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor? If he had gotten to know the Draco Malfoy behind the mask, just how much would change? If Draco had gone with Harry and Ron to the girl's bathroom and fought the troll, would the Golden Trio become a quartet? What else would change, just because Draco had done something different?
Relationships: Daphne Greengrass/Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson, Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley
Series: Better be... Slytherin! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994515
Comments: 155
Kudos: 415





	1. Goodbye Dursleys, Hello Hogwarts!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hilo! So a quick note, this will be a series, of 7 or 8 books, depending on if I decide to do the 8th one. I think this book and second year will be relatively calm but in 3rd year... Let the fun begin. There will be quite a few things that are different from the books, so if you're reading this in the future, do not skip straight to the third year! Anyway, tell me if I butchered British English. If you couldn't tell I'm American, but I really love the British version of the language, much better than the American one. That's it for now! Warning!: This chapter has some depictions of child abuse

Harry was teeming with happiness. It was finally the night of August 31st, his last night with the Dursleys! At noon, someone would come to get him from this hellhole to take him to his new school, Hogwarts. Someone named Severus Snape, Hagrid had told him. He was a teacher from Hogwarts. And nothing could dampen Harry's spirit. Not even the triple amount of chores Aunt Petunia had assigned him for the last month. Not the extra beatings Uncle Vernon had administered. Nor the bullying Harry had endured from Dudley and his 'friends'. 

Harry gazed around at his cupboard under the stairs, the small walls covered in small drawings of places and people, from his old school to Aunt Petunia. He reached his hand to touch a particular sketch, a small part of a homework paper he'd drawn on taped onto the wall by a dirty piece of tape. 

It was a drawing of his mum, dad, and himself, his mum gazing lovingly down at baby Harry in her arms. He'd drawn it from the memory of a picture Aunt Petunia had slipped him on his 10th birthday. Petunia wasn't nearly as bad as Uncle Vernon or Dudley, but she never did anything to stop them. 

Harry shuddered in the dim light of his cupboard. He'd been shoved right back into it - complete with three new locks, mind you - after Harry'd gotten back from Diagon Alley. The trunk he'd bought, filled with everything he would need for school when he left the next day, was set in Dudley's second bedroom, where Harry had the luxury of enjoying for a night. 

"Wake up, boy! Vernon will be down here by the next half hour, and you'd better have breakfast ready by then!" Aunt Petunia whispered shrilly, unlocking Harry's door and letting him out. 

"Yes, Aunt Petunia.", Harry mumbled as he crept off of his small mattress and blinked. It was still dark outside, but he could see the sun's light beginning to flit its way over the stars. 

He rubbed at his eyes, fixing his glasses, and plodded into the kitchen. In all his enthusiasm, he hadn't gotten to sleep last night. Harry picked up the stool by the doorway, set it down before a cupboard, and reached for the frying pan. Once he'd set the pan up with a tad of oil, he set upon making the toast, beating the eggs for the omelettes, and flipping pancakes. 

Harry finished up just as Uncle Vernon stumbled into the kitchen and dumped himself into the chair next to his wife. Harry filled his uncle's plate with a double serving of everything and set it in front of him, then hastened back to the counter to fix up plates for his aunt and cousin. Dudley waddled in just as Harry rushed to the stove and began to clear up the kitchen for the morning. As soon as he finished clearing up the table as well, Aunt Petunia whisked him to the hallway, handing a list of the chores he'd have to complete before the teacher came to collect him. 

Harry set about his chores, starting with his outdoor tasks, with weeding the small gardening the backyard first. As he knelt on the dirt, the jitters of going to a new school came to him. What would going to this school be like? Would the people treat him like Hagrid had? What would the classes be like? The  _ magic?  _ Sure, Hagrid had explained a bit of it. He'd told Harry about the castle, the 'houses' the students sorted into, the awe of going to classes for the first time, and the boredom of sitting through History class. It all sounded so wonderful next to Harry's experience at St. Gregory's, with its dull grey aura and students whose only goal in life was to beat up other children. 

When Harry finished weeding the garden, he'd moved on with the rest of the outdoor tasks, ticking them off them quickly before heading inside to do the laundry. When he'd set the first load in, Harry went about scrubbing the floor of the kitchen with an old sponge held together by the tiniest of threads. 

His mind began to wander again to the day his life changed. He'd told him how Harry was as famous as can be because of his mum and dad. He thought about what Hagrid had told him about his parents. How they were brave wizards that had sacrificed themselves for him, not the drunkards Uncle Vernon had told Harry about. Hagrid told him a bit about his parents and even gave him a small photo of his mum. 

Harry sighed as he left the floor to dry and shuffled up the stairs to fold the first load and dry the second, and put the third in to wash. By the time he'd folded all of the clothes, scrubbed all the floors, vacuumed the living room, and given both of Dudley's room a thorough clean, it was quarter till noon. 

Harry's eyes widened, and he dashed to the washroom to get cleaned up and dressed in his nicest clothes, which were a t-shirt he'd gotten from his neighbour Ms Figg, and trousers that were only a little too long, but at least didn't fall off his waist like the rest of the hand-me-downs he'd gotten from Dudley. He didn't take Harry's shirt as it was much too small for him. 

"Get down here, boy!" Harry heard Uncle Vernon shout, just as he finished lacing up his tattered trainers. 

He quickly dashed down the stairs and into the hallway, where Uncle Vernon and Dudley were waiting for him. And from Dudley's evil smile, Harry could tell something terrible would happen. 

And how right he was. As soon as Harry skidded to a stop in front of him, Dudley rushed forward and gripped both of Harry's arms and pinned them at his back. 

"Let's see how those freaks will like you after this," Vernon told Harry, eyes glinting evilly, as he brought his fist to Harry's stomach. 

With his breath knocked out of Harry, Dudley released his wrists and shoved him to the floor, and began to kick at him. Harry raised his arms to cover his head and curled into a ball, just like he'd done hundreds of times over the years. 

Harry barely heard the doorbell ring as he was pummeled. He missed the way Petunia gasped "You!" at the man in the doorway. He didn't notice when the man began to speak before seeing the disturbance in the hallway, and pushed his way past his Aunt, and yelled at Harry's uncle and cousin to stop. 

He did notice, however, when the man pulled out his wand and waved it at Vernon and Dudley, leaving them suddenly tied up. Harry tried to push himself up, but fell back down, causing the man to leave his relatives and rush to his side. 

"Can you hear me, Mr Potter?" the man asked, flitting his wand over the bruises on Harry's face, whispering "Episkey" as the blemishes disappeared. 

Harry nodded slightly, not sure if he could do much more, and lowered his eyes. 

"Mr Potter, I am Severus Snape, and I need you to- Hey, look at me," Severus said as Harry flinched away from him. "Mr Potter... Mr Potter! Mi- Harry!" He said suddenly. "I need you to come with me to Hogwarts so that I may take you to the Hospital Wing. Where are you're things?" 

Harry nodded again and pointed to Dudley's second bedroom, not sure what to say as Severus quickly ran over some of his injuries. Severus quickly murmured something, and shrunk Harry's things placing them in his pocket, and helped Harry up, handing Hedwig's cage to him. Severus undid the speel on Vernon and Dudley, then led Harry out of the door and led him down the street to Ms Figg's house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! So how badly did I mess up? I don't mind criticism, but please don't hate. Please leave comments if you want to see anything from this story, and any opinions you have. Looking forward to the rest! (Updates every 1-2 weeks)  
> \- Safa (No this is not my real name, this is just a pen name)


	2. We Didn't Take The Train, We Fireplaced Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half of this chapter is taken from Harry Potter and The Sorceror's Stone. It will be outlined in bold, but there are a few changes I made, so may want to still skim over it instead of just skipping over it. A part of the next chapter will also be taken directly from the book. Enjoy!~

Harry eyed the nurse, who was tending to him warily. It had been a strange last hour. 

First, Professor Snape had taken him to Ms. Figg’s house, where he’d learned that she was a _squib,_ a witch born without magic. The professor had spoken to her quickly, explaining what had happened before asking to use her _floo_ , which turned out to be her fireplace. Then, Professor Snape had told him to throw the green powder and say “Severus Snape’s Office, Hogwarts” and walk into the fireplace. Somehow they had ended up at Harry’s new school, where the professor rushed him to the Hospital Wing. 

He sat still as the Medi-witch, Madam Pomfrey, tittered about him, mumbling something about dreadful muggles. He looked around the medical hall which was quite boring with its old brick walls, sterile white beds, and green curtains. They had given him a lovely lunch, and Harry immediately ate it up. He hadn’t eaten in _days._ He winced as Madam Pomfrey examined his left wrist. 

“It’s broken, Mr. Potter. This will take just a moment, child,” The Medi-witch tutted. 

He grimaced, but kept quiet as she tapped his wrist and muttered a low, “Episkey”. 

“That is all, Mr. Potter. Severus take him someplace he can change out of these dirty clothes and relax until the other students get here.” She said not even glancing up when Professor Snape walked into the wing. 

“Come, Mr. Potter. I shall see you soon, Poppy,” Snape said, before turning on his heel, expecting Harry to follow him. 

“He’s just a bit cold at first, don’t you worry. You’d best follow him though.” Madam Pomfrey whispered to Harry, before tidying the bed he’d been resting on. 

Harry followed Professor Snape from the Hospital Wing down the hall back to the dungeons and into his office, where all of Harry’s belongings were for the time being. Snape took him back outside and took him to the bathroom quietly, handing Harry his school clothes. Once Harry changed out of his messy clothes and into the grey lined robes, he followed Severus outside his office. 

“You can stay in the classroom, Mr. Potter. Try to stay out of trouble.” Snape told him, quietly gesturing to the door next to his office. 

“Yes, sir,” Harry replied timidly, then walked into the classroom.

Upon finding his trunk in a corner of the room, Harry quickly filed through his few belongings and picked out his potions textbook, and began reading it. At the Dursley’s he had never gotten to study much because Dudley ripped up all of his textbooks and he was often beat if he got better grades than Dudley, which was unsurprisingly quite often. 

As he read through the book, time seemed to slow down. Potions seemed so interesting! Complicated, yet as simple as can be. 

_Of course, roses would be in love and beautification potions. They do represent those two, after all,_ Harry thought. Just as he’d finished, Professor Snape strutted into the classroom. 

“Come on, Mr. Potter, the rest of the students are about to arrive. Leave the book, your belongings will be transferred to your dorm after the sorting.” 

Harry followed the professor out to the front hall, on the grounds, which Snape had quickly glamoured, and onto the platform. They arrived at the platform just as the bright red and black train pulled in. 

“Wow,” Harry whispered. He’d never seen an actual train before, and it was magnificent. 

Snape’s lips twitched. “Wow indeed, Mr. Potter. Now go join your peers. I shall see you in class.”, he said before leaving Harry in a flurry of students. 

**Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard another familiar voice:**

**“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here! All right there, Harry?” Hagrid’s big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads, “C’mon, follow me — any more firs’ years? Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!”**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be very thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. A blonde boy next to him tripped once and gave a huff of indignation.**

**“Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec,” Hagrid called over his shoulder, “jus’ round this bend here.”**

**There was a loud “Oooooh!”**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

**“No more’n four to a boat!” Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and the blonde boy were followed into their boat by a red-headed boy and bushy-haired girl.**

**“Everyone in?” shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. “Right then — FORWARD!”**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

**“Heads down!” yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.**

**“Oy, you there! Is this your toad?” said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

**“Trevor!” cried a boy blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid’s lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

**“Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?”**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comment what you think, and any suggestions! The next chapter should be up soon! Thanks for sticking with me!  
> \- Safa (This is my sister's name, so I think I'll borrow it for a while, yeah?)  
> 


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically a filler chapter because I didn't want to skip the magic of arriving at Hogwarts. So, just skim it, don't skip it because I changed a couple things that will come up later in the story. All parts of the story I take straight from the books will be bolded. Even the parts I edited a bit. I posted two chapters today solely because this part is boring. Kind of.

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry’s first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

**“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.**

**“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.”**

**She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursley’s house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

**“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.**

**“The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

**“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.”**

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on the redhead’s smudged nose, which the bushy-haired girl tried to rub off when the Professor looked away. He watched as the blonde boy carded his fingers through his hair and Harry nervously tried to flatten his own relentless hair.**

**“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said Professor McGonagall, “Please wait quietly.”**

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.**

**“How exactly do they sort us into Houses?” he asked blonde.**

**“Some sort of test, I think. Nym, my cousin, said it hurts a lot, but I think she was joking.”**

**Harry’s heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn’t know any magic yet, only some principles of potions he had learned from the book — what on earth would he have to do? He hadn’t expected something like this from the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too.**

****"Draco. Draco Malfoy." The blonde held his hand out to Harry, "And who might you be?"** **

****

**"Harry," he replied, not bothering to use his last name. They both quieted down.**

****

**The redhead boy who introduced himself as Ron Weasley stood on Harry's other side. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger- the bushy-haired girl- who was whispering quickly about all the spells she’d learned and wondering which one she’d need. Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He’d never been more nervous, never, not even when he’d had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he’d somehow turned his teacher’s wig blue. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

****

**“Move along now,” said a sharp voice. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.” Professor McGonagall had returned.**

****

**“Now, form a line,” Professor McGonagall told the first years, “and follow me.”**

****

**Feeling odd as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with the blonde boy behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

****

**Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candle¬ light. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.**

****

**He heard Hermione whisper, “It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History!”**

****

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn’t simply open on to the heavens.**

****

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn’t have let it in the house.**

****

**Maybe they had to try to get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing — noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence.**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comment what you think and suggestions! Also, I already have 50 kudos??? Thank you! Thanks to the people that left comments and kudos, and bookmarked, I really appreciate it!  
> \- Safa  
> P.S, give me an hour or so to post the next chapter, I just need to fix up a quick problem I noticed. Sorry!


	4. The Sorting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this chapter is from the book since the hat's song is here. But reading the unbolded part is VERY important. Please read all of it. Now go *shoos* Enjoy!~

**Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:**  
**“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty, But don’t judge on what you see,**  
**I’ll eat myself if you can find A smarter bat than me.**  
**You can keep your bowlers black, Your top bats sleek and tall,**  
**For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all.**  
**There’s nothing bidden in your bead The Sorting Hat can’t see,**  
**So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be.**  
**You might belong in Gryffindor,**  
**Where dwell the brave at heart,**  
**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart;**  
**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**  
**Where they are just and loyal,**  
**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil;**  
**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**  
**If you’ve a ready mind,**  
**Where those of wit and learning,**  
**Will always find their kind;**  
**Or perhaps in Slytherin, You’ll make your real friends,**  
**Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends.**  
**So put me on! Don’t be afraid! And don’t get in a flap!**  
**You’re in safe hands (though I have none)**  
**For I’m a Thinking Cap!”**  
**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**  
**“So we’ve just got to try on the hat!” Ron- the redheaded boy- whispered to Harry. “I’ll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll.”**  
**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn’t feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a House for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**  
**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**  
**“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Abbott, Hannah!”**  
The sorting went rather quickly, taking longer for some students, and some houses were shouted out just as the hat touched the student's head. Harry wasn't paying too much attention, but he did notice Hermione being sorted into Gryffindor, and the blonde boy, Draco Malfoy, join Slytherin.   
Then came the dreaded moment when Professor McGonagall called out "Potter, Harry!"   
Harry cringed as he stepped out and the whispers broke out across the halls.   
"Potter?"   
"Did she say, Harry Potter?"  
"As in the boy who lived?"   
"The Harry Potter"  
Harry closed his eyes as if it would block the whispers, and sat on the stool, and the hat covered his eyes. He waited as the hat seemed to think.   
"Hmm,” said a small voice in his ear. “Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting. ... So where shall I put you?”  
Anywhere. Just please put me somewhere, Harry thought, gripping the edge of the stool hard. He could feel the stares of the other students boring holes into him, even if he couldn't see them. He could tell that everyone was sitting on the edges of their seats with bated breath.   
"Anywhere, eh?" The small voice said, "Well, Gryffindor or Slytherin would be perfect for you. A mix of bravery and cunning. Gryffindor would be very good indeed, but in Slytherin, you find the best and worst in yourself. Then I suppose, it'd better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted.   
Harry took off the hat and set it on the stool, and turned around to find that everyone had grown incredibly still. Even the Slytherins, who had clapped and cheered for the others sorted into Slytherin sat still with shock. With a puzzled look on his face, Harry walked shakily towards the Slytherin table. He could hear every step he took since everyone was still holding their breath, and was quickly filled with a feeling of unease.   
He was suddenly put out of his misery as the blonde, Draco Malfoy, his brain supplied, started clapping slowly. The rest of the Slytherin house began following his lead as clapped just as slowly. Soon the table with students clad in yellow and the professors at the Head Table began clapping as well.   
Abruptly, an older student, who looked like he was in his 7th year stood and yelled, "We got Potter! We got The Boy Who Lived!" before the girl sitting next to him shushed him, saying, "Higgs! You sit down this instant!"   
"But Gemma, We got Harry Potter! In Slytherin!" came the reply before the girl, Gemma, smacked him over the head and Higgs mumbled a "Sorry."   
The walk to the table seemed to drag on for hours before he reached where Draco Malfoy was sitting. Harry sat down next to him numbly when Draco moved to make space for him.   
"You didn't tell me you were Harry Potter!" Draco exclaimed, looking intently at Harry, before registering the look on Harry's face.   
Draco's face softened, "Oi, are you okay?"   
"Er, yeah." Harry said, but when Draco gave him a pointed look, Harry continued, "Just... I don't understand why everyone reacted like that."   
Draco stared at Harry. "What do you mean? Everyone knows that Slytherins are 'evil'" He said, spitting the last word out like poison.  
"I- I didn't know about magic until my birthday at the end of July. Why are Slytherins evil? What's so bad about us?" Harry asked.  
"Oh." Draco whispered quietly, "Well, your mum and dad, James and Lily Potter were both in Gryffindor, so everyone expected you to be sorted there too. Grindlewald was in Slytherin. And the man who killed your parents," he paused, wincing, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, was a Slytherin. Most people say that all Slytherins are evil."   
"You mean Voldemort?" Harry blurted, immediately regretting it as Draco gasped and the nearest Slytherins winced.   
"Harry!", Draco hissed, "What part of 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' do you not understand?"   
"Oh, sorry," Harry said flinching under Draco's hard glare.   
Draco sighed, "It's fine. Most people here don't appreciate hearing the Dark Lord's name,"  
"Oh," Harry said again, feeling quite like an idiot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading? What do you think? If you have any suggestions and/or commentary, please comment, I'd love to see if I can add other ideas to this story. Thank you for all the Kudos, comments, and Bookmarks so far!!! It means so much to me, you have no idea. I promise the next chapter will be up just as fast as they have been! I usually update once or twice a week for other stories, but this one is getting so much positivity, I can't help but write and post more often! Also, I do NOT have a Beta,so please tell me if you notice any mistakes!  
> \- Safa


	5. The Feast and The Common Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I kinda rushed through this chapter. Meaning I wanted to get through as much as I could in this chapter. I'm planning on making Theo the 'replacement' of Draco, so how do you guys feel about that? Well, I hope you still like it!

Draco and Harry were surrounded by Draco's friends by the time the sorting had finished. Harry was in the middle with Draco, Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe beside Draco, and Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, and Daphne Greengrass next to Harry. Draco and Blaise were chattering together, heads bent, when the sorting hat had been put away and the Headmaster began to talk. 

Albus Dumbledore stood up, beaming at the students in front of him, arms opened wide. 

“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Badger! Raven! Snake! Lion! Phoenix! Thank you! Now enjoy your dinners!”

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or not.

“Is he — a bit mad?” he asked Pansy uncertainly, who was sitting directly next to him.

Pansy, Draco, and Blaise snorted. 

"The old bat is supposedly a genius. The best wizard in the world, Mum said. But Father always thought him to be a bit mad," Draco said as Dumbledore clapped his hands. 

Harry's jaw fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

The Dursleys had never exactly starved so much that it would have killed Harry, but he was deprived as punishment, which was quite often. And the times he would be allowed to eat, Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a little of everything except for the peppermints and began to eat while the other Slytherins began to talk about their families. Across the hall at the Gryffindor table, a gasp rang out from the chatter as a ghotś head seemed to fall off, as though he had been beheaded, but not quite all the way. 

"We all know about Potter's parents now, don't we?" Blaise said jokingly, shaking Harry from his food-trance. 

Before he could say anything Draco interrupted, elbowing Blaise and hissing his name. 

"Sorry, Harry," Blaise mumbled. 

"It's okay. I don't remember them anyway." Harry replied, stuffing a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth. 

"Where have you been living? If you were in London, you would be all over the papers." 

"Er... I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin, in Surrey. The er... Muggle part," Harry said hesitantly. 

Draco and Pansy wrinkled their noses, and in unison said, "Muggles!" 

Blaise, noticing how much Harry was eating, asked humorously again, "What'd they do, starve you?" 

Harry hid his face, his spoon clattering on the plate as he ducked under his arms. 

Next to him, Pansy gasped and Draco's face took on anger as he said, " They  _ starved  _ you?" __

"Don't, not here", Daphne said to Draco, reaching past Pansy to place her hand over Harry's. 

To Harry's relief, a ghost floated through the wall and interrupting them. The ghost looked terrible, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. 

"Lucius Malfoy's son, I presume?" The ghost boomed in a deep voice.

When Draco nodded nervously, he continued saying, "Slytherin will flourish with another Malfoy.", then sank into the floor, leaving Draco shaken slightly. 

"Well, that went well," Blaise said wryly as Draco began to eat again. 

"Who was that?" Harry asked, indicating the ghost, who was now at the head table speaking to the headmaster. 

"The Bloody Baron. He's the Slytherin Ghost," Pansy replied, " See, Gryffindor has that nearly headless one, Ravenclaw has Helena Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff has the Fat Friar. There are others, I just can't remember them right now." she said, pointing to each ghost in turn. 

When the dessert came, Draco picked out a treacle tart onto his plate. Harry copied Draco, placing a piece on his own plate. As Harry was eating his dessert, he looked at the head table, studying each of the staff. Just as he was finishing his treacle tart, Harry's eyes met Professor Quirrel's, and a hot stabbing pain shot across his forehead, disappearing just as quickly as it came. 

"Ouch!" Harry exclaimed, clapping a hand to his scar. 

"Are you okay, Harry?" Daphne said at the same time Draco said, "What's wrong?" 

"I'm fine, nothing's wrong," Harry said quickly, lowering his hand. 

He noticed the look the both of them gave him that told him that they would be talking about this later. 

The Hall quieted again as Dumbledore rose again and announced that the forest was forbidden as well as the 3rd- floor corridor. After the school song was sung- rather terribly, Harry noted- Gemma Farley, who was a prefect, led them down to the dungeons. 

"The password is Anguis Domi," Gemma told the other Slytherins and led the way into the stone door that had moved to reveal the Slytherin Common Room. 

Sitting in a circle of loveseats, Draco, Harry, Pansy, Millicent, Blaise, Daphne, Greg, and Vince talked about trivial things like siblings, and favorite colours. Though, Greg and Vince didn't talk much. Once they had tired out, they split, the boys heading to their dormitories, and the girls to theirs. It looked like Pansy, Millicent, and Daphne were sharing with Tracy Davis, Sarah Fleming, and Tina Rosemer.

"I'm too tired to talk about everything right now, but tomorrow..." Draco said in their dorm, the last of his words dissolving into a yawn. 

"Good night, Draco," Harry said, looking out the window at the lake. 

"'Night, Harry," Draco mumbled before drifting off to sleep. 

Harry glanced at the other beds. Draco, Harry, Greg, Vince, and Blaise had been placed in the same dormitory, along with another first-year, Theodore Nott. Draco and Blaise didn't seem to like Theo, but Greg and Vince seemed friendly enough towards him. 

With one final glance, Harry pulled the blanket around himself and closed his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What do you think? It really helps when you leave comments because it helps me know what I'm doing good and what I need to improve, so feel free to leave comments about something I messed up. Thank you to the people that have helped this story grow so much over the last 4 days, I'm surprised how much positivity I got from this!!! Thanks for the Kudos, and thank you for bookmarking!!! (Next chapter will be up in a day or two!)  
> \- Safa


	6. First Day of Classes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter! I will be changing quite a few things from the books to fit this story, and in this chapter, that means how the school schedule works. Thanks!

The next morning was dreadful. First, Harry had barely gotten any sleep because of strange nightmares that involved Professor Quirell starting to take off his turban, but then suddenly, a bright green flash made its way into the nightmare and Harry woke up, unable to sleep after that. Then, when he was walking to breakfast, whispers trailed him and his friends to the dining hall. 

"Where is he?" 

"Harry Potter!" 

"There, next to the Malfoy, see,"

Harry ignored them, eating his breakfast of bacon and eggs quickly so he could gather his things for his first class. 

"Oi, Harry we've got History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs first. Do you think we'll learn about You-Know-Who?" Blaise asked from across the table. 

"Blaise!" Pansy admonished, smacking Blaise from her place next to him

Harry grinned tiredly, "It's fine, Pans..." He looked around the Hall at everyone who was still staring at him, "But we have to get to class in the first place, so hurry it up," he said. 

They all ate quickly, eager to leave the Great Hall and get to class.

They bustled into the History of Magic classroom and settled into their seats. Harry sat down in 2nd row of seats, Draco and Pansy taking the seats on either side of him. Soon all of the seats were filled, but the teacher still hadn't shown up. 

All of a sudden a ghost rose from the ground. He looked old, even for a ghost. He looked over his glasses at the students, and without a second glance began to go off about the material they would be learning this year. Something about the Great Goblin Gaggles of 16- Oh- something and some Werewolf Revolt in the 13th Century. 

He looked at Draco, who looked just as bored as every other Slytherin in the room. At least the Hufflepuffs tried to look as if they cared. So much for the first class being exciting. He looked at the rest of his classmates and noticed that rather than paying attention to the lesson, they were all staring at him. With the exception of his friends, who were talking amongst each other. 

Professor Binns was still rattling off about the Dwarfs when the class ended, and Harry jumped up, restless from sitting for so long. He knew he had transfiguration with the Gryffindors next. 

The transfiguration classroom looked identical to the classrooms at his old primary school. There were six rows of five desks each, spread far enough for someone to pass through. A larger desk with organised piles of papers stood at the very front of the room, with a chalkboard on the wall behind it. 

Harry shivered at the reminder of his old private school. Dudley had taken every chance to pummel him at school, and recess was his favourite. None of the teachers ever did anything, thinking it was simple sibling rivalry. Once he's managed to jump three times his height onto the roof of the schoolhouse. Now, Harry knew why he'd been punished so harshly that day. 

Professor McGonagall, Harry learned, was very strict and clever. The moment they'd all sat in their seats, the teacher proceeded to give a lecture on how important it was to pay attention and behave in class. Harry's classmates barely even glanced at him this time. Everyone knew that she was one teacher not to cross. 

Once the professor finished her lecture, she progressed to change the nearest empty desk into a pig, and back again, saying " Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned," She paused, gesturing at the desk, "We will not be doing anything so advanced for a very long time, mind you." 

They spent the rest of the class attempting to turn a matchstick into a needle. The only person that had even slightly succeeded was Hermione, who had gotten her match a grey colour and a bit pointy on one side. Professor McGonagall had been so proud, she awarded Hermione 5 points and a small smile before her serious look returned. 

After transfiguration, the first year Slytherins had Herbology with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs in the greenhouse. The greenhouse was covered in plants, inside and out. Professor Sprout spent the first half of the class explaining how many of the plants were either deadly or carnivorous. The next part of class, the professor went over the most common herbs and other vegetation that went into potions. Harry noted the properties of each type of plant, hoping that it will come in handy for potions the next day. 

For the last part of class, Professor Sprout split them into groups and had them pot a simple flower as practice for the rest of the year. Harry had been partnered with Draco and Ron Weasley, who Harry recognised from the sorting. 

"Hello, Ron!" Harry said cheerily, eager to make friends outside of Slytherin as well. 

Ron gaped at Harry before returning a quick 'Hello'. Harry saw Draco sneer at Ron and smacked him. 

"Be nice, Draco," Harry scolded. 

"Malfoys are not  _ nice  _ to Weasleys. 

"Well, this Malfoy better be." Harry retorted, turning away from Draco and helping Ron with the plant. 

The people near them glanced up at the comment but kept working. Draco, after staring at Harry's back for a good 5 minutes, huffed a sigh, and said, "Ok, fine, Harry. Have it your way. I'll be nice to Weasley." 

"Apologize to him, Draco," Harry said, not stopping his work. 

Draco stared again, murmuring, a barely audible "I'm sorry, Weasley." 

Everyone around the three of them looked incredulously at Draco. Even Ron was gaping at him. 

"I'm sorry,  _ Ron _ ," Harry said, brushing his hands off and turning to face Draco and Ron. 

Draco looked at Harry before sighing, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Ron."

Now, everyone stopped to stare at the trio. Harry Potter had gotten  _ Draco Malfoy  _ to apologise. To a  _ Weasley _ . 

Ron didn't say anything for a while, but he eventually held out his hand as acceptance. Draco shook it, groaning inwardly. He just wanted Harry to trust him. He didn't mean to destroy his reputation. Knowing there wasn't much he could do now, Draco began to help Harry and Ron with the plant. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? I think this one wasn't as good as it could be, so sorry... Please comment, it really helps! Also, I have 111 kudos when I posted this!!! I am so proud of myself! Thank you all so, so much, it means the world to me! Thank you for all the kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc. Thanks! (Next chapter will be uploaded tomorrow, so sit tight!)  
> \- Safa


	7. Defence Against the Dark Arts and a trip to the Infirmary

The rest of the day passed with sneaked glances and whispers in the halls, but before Harry knew it, he was waking up quite early the next morning. 

"Good morning, Harry," Draco said, tiredly as he sat up in his bed. His hair was ruffled and his pyjamas were rumpled as he climbed out towards the closet beside his bed. 

"Morning, Draco," Harry replied also getting out of bed and pulling clothes out of his trunk. 

Draco eyeing Harry's clothes, dull and much to big for him, took an extra set of clothes out. 

"Here, we're around the same height, so these should fit you. At least better than those will." Draco said, handing simple black trousers and a grey button-up shirt. 

"No, Draco, I-" Harry started, pushing the clothes back into Draco's hands. 

"Harry. Take them, and stop acting like a Hufflepuff," Draco said, setting the clothes on Harry's bed before making his way to the washroom.

"An don't think we won't be talking about this. This weekend, Harry," Draco drawled before closing the bathroom door. 

Harry winced but gathered the clothes and his towel to follow Draco. After quick showers, Draco and Harry emerged from the bathroom just as Blaise, Greg, Vince, and Theo made their way blearily into the bathroom. 

"Morning, Harry. Draco," Blaise mumbled, nodding his head towards each of them before slipping through the door. Greg, Vince, and Theo nodded to them before following Blaise. 

As Harry walked back to his dorm room, he kept adjusting the clothes he was wearing. It felt so strange to finally be wearing clothes that fit him.

After the other boys got back from the washroom, they met up with the girls in the common room and walked down to the Great Hall. Breakfast was the same as yesterday. Everyone was still staring at him. Harry did his best to ignore them, but ate his   
breakfast quickly and left as soon as he finished, Draco and Pansy trailing him to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. 

When they were allowed to enter the room, Harry took a seat in the front row, Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Ron, and Hermione filling out the rest of the row. 

When Professor Quirrell entered the room, Harry's dull headache from breakfast suddenly flared up, targeting his scar. He gasped, trying not to touch his forehead. 

"Harry? What's wrong?" Pansy asked worriedly. Harry looked up to see the rest of the first row looking at him with concern. 

"Nothing, just a headache. I'm fine," Harry insisted, his hands shaking as he tried to take notes on what the professor was saying. His writing was illegible. 

Pansy's hand rose, and when Professor Quirrell called on her, she said, "Sir, Harry isn't feeling well. Could Draco and I take him to the infirmary?" 

The professor's eyes widened, and he stammered, "Y- yes, of c-course, M-ms. Park-kinson." 

"Pansy, it's really not-" Pansy cut him off by snatching his quill and parchment and slipping them into his pack. 

"It's okay, Harry. I'll get Hermione to share her notes." Ron said from his place in between Hermione and Blaise. 

"Yeah, you can borrow my notes, Harry," Hermione squeaked, startled that she had been volunteered. 

Harry sighed, gathering the rest of his things and following Draco outside, Pansy trailing him. As soon as he left the classroom, Harry breathed a sigh of relief as his headache eased a little. 

The three of them trudged up the staircases until they made it to the infirmary, both Pansy and Draco attacking him with questions on the way. "I'm fine, really," Harry said as they walked through the doorway of the Hospital Wing. 

"No, you're not!" Both Pansy and Draco exclaimed at the same time. 

Harry sighed again as Madam Pomfrey rushed to Harry. 

"Mr Potter! I see you're in here again. Did something happen?" She said, checking him over. 

Pansy and Draco looked at the medi-witch with surprise. 

"He's been in here already?" Draco asked, frowning. 

"Oh yes, just yesterday. I do hope you will tell them, Mr Potter," She said, not explaining, "Now why are you here today?" 

"He looked just about ready to faint in Defence Against the Dark Arts today, ma'am. He said he had a headache," Draco said cutting off Harry's "I'm fine!" 

"Here you are Mr Potter," the Medi-witch said, handing a small vial of green liquid to Harry, "It's a standard healing potion laced with calming draught. It should help with the pain. And this," She said, handing another potion to Harry, "Is a pepper-up potion. I'd like for you to attend the rest of your classes." 

"Yeah, we have our first flying lesson today!" Draco exclaimed, rocking onto his toes for a second before settling back down. 

Harry's eyes widened, "Flying? How?" he asked. 

"Brooms,", Draco said simply.

Harry's eyes widened further, "You're telling me we can fly. On brooms." Harry said slowly. 

"Yeah. And you're going to love it, I can tell." Pansy said, amused. 

"I've got a magazine on Quidditch in my trunk. I can show it to you later if you'd like." Draco said. 

"Quidditch?" Harry questioned. 

Draco stared incredulously at Harry. 

"Oh my god," Draco said, bursting into laughter, "James Potter's son doesn't know what Quidditch is!" 

Harry frowned as he doubled over

"What?" He said, staring at his new best friend like he had gone mad. 

"Nothing!" Draco gasped as he tried to stop laughing, 

"He's just being a prat, Harry," Pansy said, though her lips were twitching. 

"If you say so." He said uncertainly, before going back to the topic of flying, "I can't wait for flying lessons, then." 

"We have potions first, though," Draco said, still sounding excited. 

"I've read the books they assigned for us. I think I'll like Potions. Who is the teacher?" Harry asked. 

"Professor Snape. The dark broody one. He's not always like that, only at school," Draco answered. 

"Oh," Harry murmured. 

"What?" Draco asked, suddenly sober.

"I was just thinking," Harry replied. 

"Well, let's go then! We don't want to have points taken for being late on only the second day," Pansy said cheerily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this is kinda late! this chapter was sort of boring, sorry, but the next chapter will be about the first flying lesson, and how Harry will get onto the Slytherin Quidditch team! I think this next chapter will be done in two days. When I started this story, I never imagined that I would get this far in only 10 days! thank you all so so much for over 140 kudos and all the comments and bookmarks!!!  
> \- Safa


	8. Harry's First Potions Class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, I lied. No flying in this chapter, because I forgot to upload this chapter yesterday...

Potions, it turned out, was quite interesting. As soon as Harry and the other first-year Slytherins took their seats in the potions classroom with the Gryffindors, Professor Snape came out from his office, robes billowing behind him. Snape, like every other teacher, started with role call.

When he reached Harry, he sneered and looked directly at him. 

"Ah yes, our new... celebrity, Harry Potter," The professor drawled, and a group of Gryffindors in the last row sniggered behind their hands, and Snape glared at them. 

Once he'd finished, Snape began to speak again. 

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making,” he said in a low, dangerous voice, "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, it is still an important branch of magic. I don’t expect you will understand the beauty of this extravagant art. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death, if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

Next to Harry, Draco chuckled, and he could see that many of the Gryffindors looked on edge. Hermione was on the edge of her seat, eager to prove she was not a dunderhead, and Ron stared at Professor Snape as if he was mad. Harry was intrigued, but sat quietly, keeping his excitement in check. So far, so good he thought. 

"Mr Potter!" Professor Snape said suddenly, "What potion would I have if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

Harry scrunched his nose as he tried to remember from the textbook, "Er... The Draught... Of Living Death... I think," He said uncertainly as Hermione's hand shot up into the air. 

A look of surprise crossed the professor's face, but only briefly, but he nodded slowly, "That's correct, Mr Potter," he paused, thinking, then continued, "Where can I find a bezoar?" 

"In the belly of a goat, sir," Harry replied, without hesitation. He knew this one. Hermione was almost jumping out of her seat, her hand held high, and Draco was trying to cover his laughter. It was obvious that Professor Snape was trying to attack Harry. 

"And what, Mr Potter, is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?” Snape sneered again, hoping for Harry to give up. 

"They're the same thing, aren't they Hermione?" Harry said, amused now. 

Professor Snape scowled at Harry and Hermione when she squeaked, but he sighed and announced, "Five points to Slytherin for coming prepared," then continued picking on students with questions. 

"That was amazing, Harry," Ron whispered from beside Blaise.

"I don't think anyone else has the guts to do that. And he even gave you points!" Pansy added from Draco's other side. 

"Mr Potter, Ms Parkinson, and Mr Weasley, I would suggest you stop talking now." Snape jeered, "Go right ahead if you wish to see me at detention tonight." 

The rest of the lecture, they attempted to stay quiet, but a few giggles couldn't help but slip past. 

After his speech, Professor Snape announced that they would be brewing their first potion at Hogwarts. 

"Each of you will have a partner, an no you may not choose, Mr Thomas," He told the class, then began listing off the partnered groups. 

"Mr Weasley, over here with Miss Parkinson." He began, and continued through the classroom, making pairs until he reached where Draco and Harry were sitting, staring at the green-eyed boy, before saying, "Mr Malfoy, I trust you will assist Mr Potter to understand the art of potions," 

Draco nodded to the professor, but his eyes shone with excitement as everyone stood up and began bustling around for the ingredients. 

Once they had gathered everything and began to heat the base ingredient in the cauldron, Harry and Draco seemed to work quite well together. Harry learned quickly from what Draco was teaching him, and soon enough, they had an ice blue liquid simmering lightly before Draco put out the fire and bottled the potion in a small vial. Both boys walked to the front of the classroom, depositing the bottle onto Professor Snape's desk. The professor, who had been watching a pair of Gryffindors closely, startled slightly when Harry placed the vial in front of him. 

"Very good, Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy," Snape said in a bewildered tone after examining the vial for a few moments, "Very good indeed. This potion is very well made, but it could have done with an extra pinch of t-" he began when a loud hissing sound interrupted him. 

In the last row of the classroom, Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron, leaving both boys covered in greenish slime that was quickly eating away at their clothes. Immediately, Snape rushed over to the boys, swiftly vanishing bits of slime from Neville, who'd gotten the most slime. The other students who had gotten slime on them began to hurriedly wipe it away. 

"Idiot boy! The quills go in _after_ the potion has turned violet, not before! 20 points from Gryffindor!" The professor roared at Neville before calling out to Harry and Draco. 

"Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, as you are finished, kindly escort Mr Longbottom and Mr Finnigan to the Hospital Wing," He said in a slightly more controlled voice, before turning back to the destroyed cauldron, vanishing the mess. 

Harry and Draco rushed Seamus and Neville to the Infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey deftly commented on his inability to stay away from the Hospital wing, even when he wasn't the one injured. Which Draco had found quite amusing, to Harry's annoyance. 

Both of the injured boys had been healed almost immediately with a simple charm and a pepper-up potion, leaving them both as good as new. Their eyes widening as Draco cast a charm that told them the time, the four boys rushed down the corridors, splitting to go to their respective dorms to change into more suitable robes. Then they rushed out onto the training grounds. they were nearly late for their first flying lesson, after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? Thank you for all the awesome comments! I love reading them! And all the kudos and bookmarks! Thank you so so much for all the support! The next chapter will be uploaded sometime tomorrow! Thank you again!   
> \- Safa


	9. High Time for Flying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, life can really suck sometimes.

Thanks to the note Madam Pomfrey had sent with them, Draco, Harry, Neville, and Seamus didn't lose any points for being late for Flying class. The sky was clear and bright and a light breeze was blowing light enough to barely ruffle the leaves on the branches of the nearby trees. 

"Harry! Seamus, Neville," Ron shouted from his spot next to Hermione and gave Draco a curt nod. 

"Potter, Finnegan, Malfoy, and Longbottom, please take your places and stop disrupting the class," Madam Hooch ordered from the front of the class, "Now, stick your hand out over your broom and say 'Up'!"

A chorus of "Up"s sounded from the group as everyone tried to get their brooms to react. Harry's had jumped straight into his waiting palm, and so had a few other's brooms. Hermione's had simply turned over, and Neville's barely twitched. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry, as he watched the rest of his classmates continue summoning their brooms. 

Once everyone had managed to have a broom in their hands, Madam Hooch demonstrated how to safely mount their brooms. Much to Harry's amusement and Ron's delight, she had told Draco that he'd been doing it wrong for years. 

"When I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard,” said Madam Hooch. “Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet then come straight back down by leaning slightly on the handle. Now, on my whistle. One... Two- " 

She was interrupted by Neville, who was much too nervous, and kicked off much too hard before the whistle had even touched Madam Hooch's lips. 

"Mr Longbottom! Get back down this instant!" She shouted as the Gryffindor shot up into the air like a rocket before his broom stopped short, and he slipped off the handle. Harry could see his ghost-white face as he fell through the air, and back to his original spot with a loud-  _ THUD.  _

A crack followed immediately and Neville collapsed into a heap on the grass. His broom kept rising higher before stopping and falling to the ground next to him. 

Madam Hooch was mumbling to the sobbing boy, and helped him up, before addressing the class. 

"If a single one of you moves before I am back, you will be out of here before you can say 'Quaffle', got it?" Madam Hooch said menacingly as she stared at each of them in turn. 

"Good. Now, come on, Mr Longbottom, we haven't got all day," She grumbled as she led a tear-streaked Neville out of the training grounds, clutching his wrist tightly. 

As soon as they were out of earshot, the remaining students tittered as Theodore Nott, Greg, and Vince burst out laughing. 

"Did you see his face?" Theo said in between his laughter. 

"Do shut up, Nott!" Pavarti Patil snapped.

“Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?” said Sarah Fleming, one of the girls who were sharing a dorm with Pansy and Astoria, Harry remembered. “Never thought you’d like fat little crybabies, Parvati.”

"Look!” said Vince, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. “It’s that stupid thing Longbottom’s gran sent him.”

A Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

“Give that here, Nott,” said Ron quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Theo sneered at Ron, “I think I’ll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. how about... up a tree?”

“Give it here!” Ron yelled, but Theo had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. From what Harry could tell, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, “Come and get it, Weasley!”

Harry grabbed his broom the same time Draco did.

“No!” shouted Hermione, “Madam Hooch told us not to move — All three of you will get us all into trouble.”

Harry ignored her. He and Neville had a sort of companionship, and he would not let another person hurt his friend. Draco of course, would not let Nott bring shame to Slytherin, and have them lose points on the second day of term. Harry quickly mounted his broom and kicked off the ground, rising lightly into the air. Draco followed closely behind, though he had a look of surprise on his face as Harry took off towards Theo. 

His heart swelled when he shot easily through the air. This was finally something he was good at! Something he didn’t have to learn! 

As he steered his broom higher, Harry could hear the gasps and cries from his classmates below him. He turned sharply to face Theo, who had a face of absolute shock. 

“Give it here. You heard Ron,” Harry called to Nott whose face had gone pale. 

“Sticking up for a Weasley, are we? Who do you think you are? A Gryffindor?” Theo sneered, though his eyes held fear. 

“Shut up, Nott. He makes a better Slytherin than you ever will,” Draco snapped and made a grab for the Remembrall that was still clenched in Theo’s hand. 

Theo, suddenly losing his balance, pitched forward and in an attempt to save himself from falling, let go of the sphere and grabbed at the handle of his broom. Without another thought, Harry sped forward, thinning himself against the broom as he dived for the Remembrall. Barely hearing the screams of his classmates, his hand closed around the ball barely a foot from the ground, and he pulled up quickly as to not be flattened onto the grass. 

He tumbled off his broom, onto the ground softly, then stood up brushing off his robes. He straightened, and with a triumphant smile held up Neville’s Remembrall while almost every girl sighed with relief and everyone else stared at him in amazement, including Draco, who had now landed and was standing next to his discarded broom. 

“Harry, you never told me you could fly like that!” Ron said at the same time Draco grinned and said, “Are you sure this was your first time flying? Because it sure didn’t look like it,” 

They were severely interrupted when a yell came from the castle gates. 

“MR POTTER! IN ALL MY YEARS-” Professor McGonnagal cut off as she clutched her chest.

“I swear, these children will be the death of me. Severus, you take care of him. He is a Slytherin after all,” she said to the Potions Master who had followed her out. 

“Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, if you could please follow me. As for you, Mr Nott, you will be serving detention with me for the next week,” Professor Snape drawled as he turned, and climbed back up to the castle doors. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Thank you for all the Kudos and Comments, and bookmarks! The next chapter will be up in a few hours because I delayed this chapter. What do you think?  
> \- Safa


	10. Slytherin's Newest Players are Chosen!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is kinda late again!

“Do try to keep up,” Professor Snape drawled as Harry and Draco struggled to keep up with his quick pace. After a final set of steps, Professor Snape ducked into a classroom, and called out, “Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Flint for a moment?”

Flint? thought Harry, bewildered. What was a Flint? 

Flint, however, turned out to be the burly 6th year who had been yelling at the welcoming feast. 

When he saw his Head of House, he approached him with a puzzled expression before he saw Harry, and panic took over instead. 

“Professor, if this is about the feast, I-” He started, but was promptly cut off by Snape. 

“Though I am quite disappointed with your behaviour yesterday, this is not about that. I’ve found you a Seeker. As well as a Chaser,” He said, gesturing to Harry first, then Draco. 

Flint immediately brightened. 

“Really?”, He frowned again, “But they’re both first years, aren’t they, sir?” 

“Yes,” Professor Snape drawled, “But, I’m sure we can make an exception.” 

“Wait! Professor, are you saying…. that Harry and I are going to play for Slytherin?” Draco asked, astonished. 

“Quite slow on the uptake, are we Draco?” Snape droned with a twitch of his lips. 

“What is going on? What are we playing for Slytherin?” Harry asked in confusion.

Draco, Flint, and the professor stared at Harry. 

“Quidditch, of course!” Flint exclaimed as he continued staring at Harry.

“That’s the second time I’ve heard that. What’s Quidditch?” Harry asked curiously as he ran a hand through his hair. 

“What is Quidditch?”Flint nearly yelled. 

“Keep in mind, Mr Flint, Mr Potter here was raised by muggles,” Snape, Flint, and Draco shivered in disgust. 

“But-” Flint started. 

“Mr Flint! That is enough.” He addressed Draco and Harry, “I expect you two on the Quidditch pitch tomorrow morning by 7,” 

Harry and Draco nodded fervently, as Professor Snape continued, “And you two will come with me to my office. Do not expect to be let off so lightly,” He said, doing his signature turn on his heel, and gestured for the two first years to follow him and dismissed Flint. 

They followed their professor back to the dungeons and into Snape’s office. 

“Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, I am very disappointed in the both of you.” He focused on Draco, “I expected more of you, Draco.”

“But Uncle Severus, No- Theo provoked us!” Draco said intently, inching forward on his seat. 

“Uncle Severus?” Harry asked uncertainly.

“He’s my godfather,” Draco said, waving a hand as to brush it off.

“Oh,” Harry said quietly. 

“It does not matter who provoked who. Slytherins do not get provoked,” Severus said, ignoring Harry’s interruption. 

“But-” Draco started.

“No. Both of you will have detention tomorrow after dinner. And 10 points from each of you,” Snape said adamantly, “You are dismissed, Mr Malfoy. Mr Potter, if I could talk to you for a moment.” 

“Yes, sit,” Draco said, as he got up. He looked at Harry and mouthed ‘Library’, then closed the door behind him. 

Harry turned back to his Head of House warily as he looked at Harry. 

“In the future, I should hope not to see such behaviour. Do you understand, Mr Potter?” The Professor asked the boy in front of him strictly. 

“Yes, sir,” Harry replied in a small voice. 

Professor Snape sighed, “I apologize, Mr Potter,” He said, his eyes glazing over slightly before he sighed a quiet, “You remind me of Lily”

Harry’s head snapped up

“You knew my Mum?” he asked, breathlessly. 

“Yes. Your mother and I were very good friends in our childhood,” He said wistfully, losing his dark demeanour, but suddenly wrinkled his nose a little, and narrowed his eyes, “Your father, however… Let us just say we did not get along well.” 

“Can you tell me about them, sir?” Harry asked unsurely.

“That is for another time, Mr Potter. Perhaps we can arrange to talk during the additional potions lessons I am offering?” The professor replied, and a jolt rushed through Harry 

“Additional potions lessons?” Harry asked as if to see he had heard correctly.

“I noticed you have also inherited your mother’s skills in potions. With proper training, I believe you can achieve more than with the required lessons.” Snape replied. 

“Really? You’re not having me on? Sir.” He added quickly onto the end.

At this, the professor snorted softly, “Yes, Mr Potter. Is that so hard to believe? Now I believe my godson is expecting you in the Library?” He drawled, dismissing him.

“Thank you, sir,” Harry replied as Snape handed him a small sheet of parchment and. 

After he was dismissed, Harry slipped the parchment into his pack and made his way down to the Library, where sure enough, Draco was waiting. 

“What did he say to you?” Draco hissed as soon as Harry sat down. 

“Settle down, Draco! He just told me not to do something like this again, and… and he offered me  _ additional potions lessons! _ ” Harry laughed, “Did you know that Professor Snape knew my Mum?” 

“He did?” Draco asked in surprise. 

Harry nodded, “He told me he and my Mum were childhood friends, but I don’t think he got on well with my father.” he whispered back. 

“No, I meant about the lessons? Did he really?” Draco asked quietly after nodding in agreement. 

Harry nodded, “Apparently I inherited my mum’s potions skills.” 

“Well.” Draco breathed, staring at Harry in amazement. 

“Oh! And he gave me a note,” Harry said suddenly, retrieving the slip of parchment from his pack.

“What’s it say?” 

“I’m to meet with the Headmaster after dinner tomorrow,” Harry said after quickly skimming over the note.

“The Headmaster? What does  _ the Headmaster _ want with you?”

“How am I supposed to know? I reckon it’ll have to do with my mum and dad,” Harry replied, “Or maybe the whole, ‘Harry Potter, the famous Boy-Who-Lived’” Harry said sarcastically. 

"I didn't mean it like that!" Draco huffed and flipped his charms textbook open. 

After the subject of the Potions professor and the Headmaster had been dropped, Harry and Draco set about studying until Neville sauntered to their table, Ron in tow.

“Harry, Draco, thanks for your help with Nott. Ron told me about it.” Neville said nervously. 

“You’re very welcome, Neville,” Harry said softly. 

An awkward tension fell between the four first years. It was only after Neville nudged him did Ron speak, “I suppose you two aren’t so bad. For Slytherins. And a Malfoy.” He said begrudgingly. 

And you… you are not so bad for a Weasley,” Draco replied. 

They nodded to each other, and Harry spoke up asking the Gryffindors if they would join him and Draco. 

After some gentle persuasion from Harry and Neville, Draco and Ron were convinced to sit civilly at the small table with each other. 

‘Perhaps this won’t be so terrible after all’, Harry thought as he looked around at his new friends and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Ok, so here's what's happening. I was travelling fo my break, and I injured my hand. I can't type too much, or even handwrite much, so I'm having a hard time writing chapters. I updated this chapter because I took Severus too out of character. The next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow, and I'll have an updated schedule from now on! I will update Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This week is the only exception since I will be updating both Thursday and Friday! Thank you, everyone, for understanding!


	11. Ooh, Fun! First Quidditch Training and Meeting the Headmaster!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! It is VERY IMPORTANT that you reread the last part of the last chapter again! I edited it last night, as you will realise! Other than that, I will have a schedule from now on! I will be updating on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays! It'll get me to stop procrastinating. I didn't update the entirety of last week because I was travelling, and then I injured my hand, which still kinda hurts, but I'm okay. That's enough of my rambling. Enjoy the chapter!

The morning sunshine slowly unveiled two small figures rushing quietly toward the Quidditch pitch, robes airing out behind them. By the time Harry and Draco arrived on the pitch, Professor Snape and Flint we're already there, with a large wooden box between them. 

"Hello, Professor. Hello Flint," Draco called out as they neared the other two. 

"Good morning, Malfoy, Potter. Ever played a game of Quidditch, Potter?" Flint replied. 

Draco made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a short, and said, "Obviously not." 

"Shut it, Draco!" Harry hissed, then turned sheepishly to Flint, "No, I haven't," 

Professor Snape's lips twitched and Flint chuckled, clapping Harry on the back. 

"Hm. Well, I suppose we'll start with the balls,” Flint mused and unlocked the wooden chest he had set on the floor. He pulled out a large, red ball the size of Harry's head, with two indents on the poles of the ball. 

“This is the quaffle. Our chasers use it to shoot through the goalposts,” He explained, gesturing to the three towering hoops on each side of the Quidditch pitch, “That would be you, Malfoy. We get 10 points for every score.” 

Flint waved Harry and Draco to stand next to the chest. 

“This here is the Bludger. I would say it’s the most dangerous of the bunch,” he said, gesturing to the two, large, black balls that were trying to escape their restraints, chuckling again, before Professor Snape glared at him. 

“Get on with it, if you would, Mr Flint,” the professor said, glaring daggers at the fifth year. 

“Sorry, sir!” Flint quickly replied, before opening a compartment in the chest and withdrew a small golden ball. 

“This is the Snitch,” He said as the ball seemed to unfurl its wings, “This one’s your job, Potter,” He said as Harry stared in awe at the winged ball in the fifth year’s palm. 

“Wow,” Harry breathed, “What do I do with it?” 

Flint looked at him and laughed again, “You really don’t know anything about Quidditch do you? You have to catch it of course!” 

“Catch it?” 

“Yes, Mr Potter. We shall be using muggle golf balls for this morning, however,” Professor Snape interrupted. 

Draco spent the rest of the morning throwing golf balls at Harry as he caught them, at least until they had to get to breakfast.

“Hm.” Flint mused, “They could do really well. Slytherin will definitely win the cup this year,” he turned to Snape, “But they could do better with some brooms. A Comet Two-Sixty, or even a Nimbus,” he said hopefully. 

“I suppose we could work something out, Mr Flint.” The Professor said, with a slight frown. 

“But first years aren’t allowed brooms! Sir.” Draco asked, staring at his Head of House. 

“You really are quite slow to catch on, Mr Malfoy,” The Professor drawled.

After Professor Snape and Flint had dismissed them, both boys rushed to their dorm room to change and get ready for classes. Harry quickly slipped the pain reliever Madam Pomfrey had slipped him after his visit to the Hospital Wing into his pack and stepped next to Draco.

“Draco! Harry! Where have you been? You weren’t in the dorms or the common room, and Pansy was starting to worry.” Blaise said as Harry and Draco neared the Slytherin table. 

“I was not!” Pansy admonished as she shoved Blaise and a light blush crept onto her cheeks. When Daphne gave her a knowing look, she sighed and mumbled, “Fine, maybe I was.” 

“You shouldn’t have worried, Pans. We were just… having an early morning meeting with Professor Snape,” Harry said to Pansy as he sat down between her and Draco. 

“A meeting? With Professor Snape? Are you getting expelled?” Daphne asked suddenly, pulling away from her conversation with Amita Dreston, a second year. 

Draco laughed, as the morning post arrived, and he tucked a letter into his rucksack, “Obviously not! If we were getting expelled, we wouldn’t be here!” 

“I guess that’s true,” Daphne said quietly before she went back to her discussion with Amita about a dress she’d gotten.

“So?” Blaise asked, nudging Harry, “ What’d Snape want to talk to you about?” 

Draco glanced around them, and lowered his voice to nearly a whisper, “We’ll tell you later when there aren’t as many people around.” 

Professor Snape and Flint had been very adamant about keeping their positions on the Quidditch team a secret for as long as possible. 

“That bad?” Blaise replied, raising an eyebrow. 

“Not  _ bad _ … We just aren’t supposed to tell anyone,” Harry answered. 

“Well. This should be interesting then,” Blaise said.

“We’d best get to class. Get up, boys, we’ve got Defense first!” Pansy said, gathering her things, and helping the others pack up and head to the DADA classroom. 

Another headache plagued Harry during Defence Against the Dark Arts, but the potion Madam Pomfrey had given him seemed to help ease the pain a little. She had said the smell of garlic could be triggering the headaches, but Harry wasn’t so sure. One of Aunt Petunia’s friends, Mrs Khutfi’s house had always smelt like garlic, but it had never affected him like this. 

The rest of the day passed without much incident, and that evening saw Harry and Draco standing outside the Headmaster’s office whispering, “Sugar Quills” to a gargoyle. 

The gargoyle then stepped out of the circular chamber it was standing in to reveal a large oak door. Both boys nervously walked to the door and Harry gave a tentative knock on the hard wood. The door seemed to swing open on its own, startling Harry slightly. Harry and Draco slipped through the door and stood next to each other quietly in front of the large desk and the Headmaster who stood behind it. 

“Ah, Mr Potter. I see you’ve brought Mr Malfoy as well.” Headmaster Dumbledore said, turning to face the two first years. 

When neither boy said anything, he chuckled, “You can speak,” He sighed and went on, “Harry, I called you here to apologize to you.”

“Apologize, sir?” Harry cut in quietly, “What for?” 

The Headmaster looked at Draco before replying, “Professor Snape informed me of what happened.” 

“Oh,” Harry said, fidgeting. 

“It was my mistake to believe that those muggles would be safe for you,” He continued, “And I am very sorry to put you in such a place. I promise next summer, you shall be safer.” 

“Thank you, sir.” Harry sighed but didn't relax, looking wearily at Draco. 

“Wait. What do you mean by that?" 

"Ah. I see you haven't told Me Malfoy about your… family situation." Dumbledore said with a grown, " See, Mr Potter, the thing with Slytherins is that once they begin to care, they will never stop caring."

The Headmaster had a strange twinkle in his eye as he escorted Harry and Draco to the door, and dismissed them to attend detention with their Head of House. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What do you think? Thank you for over 200 kudos!!! And over 40 bookmarks! Thank you to every single one of those people, your support is what makes me want to keep writing! (I know the chapter is still short, forgive me!) Thanks again!   
> \- Safa


	12. Midnight Letters, Reassurances, And a Letter From Hagrid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took so long, but here it is! I apologize for how short it still is!

Harry reclined back into his bed, exhausted after Draco and Pansy had finished interrogating him. They’d been drilling him for at least an hour, and still had barely gotten anything out of him, except why he’d been to the Hospital Wing before the term started. Harry had cringed as Draco’s face had taken on a look of anger he’d never seen before, and Pansy began to pat Harry down as if to check for any remaining injuries. 

When they, at last, calmed down, though Draco still looked quite murderous, and Pansy would not let go of his hands Harry was finally freed from having to ask questions. Instead, Draco began listing off all kinds of hexes and curses he would use on the Dursleys when he met them. 

Eventually, Draco left him and Pansy alone to take a walk and clear his head. Pansy had told him that Draco’s father was knocked about as a child, which is why he’d reacted so strongly. 

“You know, Harry, you must come to visit both of us this summer! Perhaps you could even stay over some days?” Pansy asked hopefully. 

“I’m not sure, Pansy. I expect they won’t let me, but if you or Draco bring your mother, they’d allow me to go with you,” Harry mused out loud. 

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Pansy announced, squaring her shoulders before she relaxed and carefully laid down next to him. 

“What Professor Dumbledore told you about Slytherins? It’s true you know. I would never leave you. I care far too much. And I know Draco does too. Alright?” Pansy said, grabbing hold of his hand again. 

“Really?” Harry asked in awe, sitting back up. 

“Of course! Did you really think that we’re dark and broody like Professor Snape?” Pansy replied, also sitting up.

When Harry nodded meekly, she laughed, “Of course not, Harry. When we make friends, we keep them for life. That’s what mum says.” 

“I hope your mum is right then,” Harry mumbled, as Draco walked back into the dorm, Blaise, Vincent, Greg, and Theo behind him. 

He stopped short when he saw both of them holding hands and sitting in bed together. 

“You’re still here, Pansy? Curfew started nearly five minutes ago!” He asked, helping Pansy up, and taking her place.

“Really? We were just talking, and I guess I lost track of time!” Pansy said hurriedly, as she hurried towards the door. She stopped for a second, looking at Draco and Harry sitting side by side, and knew that nothing could ever separate them. 

A knowing look passed over Pansy’s face before a mischievous one took over. 

“I’ll see you both tomorrow then!” she said as she closed the door behind her and took off to her dorm. 

They’d talked for a little while about Harry and Pansy’s conversation before getting ready for bed. Once everyone had changed in their pyjamas, and the other boys had settled into their beds and drawn their curtains, Harry lay awake staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. 

A little while later, Harry heard Draco whisper, “Lumos,” causing a small orb of light to shine from his wand. It was dim enough that it wouldn’t wake his dorm mates but bright enough that Harry could see Draco’s silhouette. He could see Draco beginning to open the letter he’d received that morning. Harry watched as Draco began to read the first piece of the letter and giggled quietly.

“Draco? Who’s it from?” Harry asked, parting his curtains

“Oh! You’re still up!” Draco exclaimed, jumping. 

“Hm,” Harry hummed in agreement, “Nightmares,” 

“Oh,” Draco said again, before emerging from his bed and passing Harry the letter, “It’s from my mum. She says that Father’s peacocks attacked the Minister when he was at the Manor to visit them yesterday.” 

“Minister?” Harry asked.

“Head of the Ministry of Magic,” Draco replied distractedly. 

“There’s a Ministry of Magic?” Harry asked incredulously. 

“Of course! Did you really think we answered muggle laws?” Draco replied, reading through the second parchment from his letter. 

“Well…. Maybe,” Harry said sheepishly,” How was I supposed to know there was a _Ministry_ for wizards?” 

“Yeah,” Draco agreed, not paying attention at all. 

“Draco?” Harry asked, concerned now. Draco was never this distracted. 

“Sorry, Harry. Mother says Father has been meeting with his old lot again,” Draco said, looking up, his face a strange pallor. 

“His old lot?” Harry asked, worried. 

“You know. You-Know-Who’s supporters,” Draco whispered.

“Oh,” Harry breathed, not knowing how to answer.

“Oh! And she says you can stay some of the summer with us at the Manor!” Draco said, his voice was full of false excitement, desperate to change the subject. 

“At least that’s _something_ to look forward to this summer,” Harry mumbled back. 

“Oi,” Draco said, shoving Harry lightly, Dumbledore did say you weren’t going back to that evil place. Maybe he’ll let you stay with us for the whole summer! Or with Uncle Severus! He visits us all the time in the summer,” Draco said, trying to cheer Harry up.

“You really think so?” Harry asked uncertainly. 

“I _know_ so. I also know that Mother will absolutely love you,” Draco said, nudging Harry again. 

“Yeah,” Harry said quietly. 

“Well, it really is late. Good night, Harry. We have practice again in the morning, remember?” Draco said, grabbing Harry’s hand, and squeezing it lightly, then retreating back into his bed, and extinguished his _Lumos_. 

“Yeah,” Harry whispered again, before closing his curtains and closing his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. Finally sometime just before midnight, Harry slipped into a peaceful sleep, dreaming about peacocks attacking the Prime Minister he’d seen on the telly sometimes. 

He was woken in the morning by Draco shaking him awake, “C’mon, Harry, or we’ll be late for Quidditch practice!” 

“Go ‘way,” Harry mumbled back, rolling over. 

“Don’t make me go and get Pansy,” Draco warned.

“Fine, I’m getting up, just leave Pansy out of it,” Harry groaned, rubbing his eyes, and climbing out of his bed. On the second day of term, Blaise wouldn’t get out of bed, so Draco had gotten Pansy to display her methods of waking people to the boys. It certainly wasn’t pretty.

“Hurry up, Harry! We’re going to be late!” Draco repeated. 

“I know, just give me another second,”' Harry said as he pulled his athletics robes on. 

They had to run to the Quidditch pitch to still be on time. This time, Professor Snape threw the golf balls in all kinds of directions for Harry to practice, and Draco and Flint had practised passing the Quaffle on brooms. 

When they had finished, and it was time for them to head to breakfast, Professor Snape said, “We might just be better than Gryffindor before Charlie Weasley. Good job, you three. Now off to breakfast.” 

When Harry and Draco arrived at the Slytherin table, they’d gotten another round of questions from their friends, but Draco had deflected them with half-truths. When the owls delivered the morning post, Harry was just finishing up his plate and jumped as an owl dipped over him and deposited a letter next to his plate. 

“It’s from Hagrid,” Harry said, as he opened the letter and skimmed it. 

_Hi, Harry._

_I hope your first week has gone well so far. How about you tell me about it over tea on Saturday? You can bring your friends._

_\- Hagrid._

“What’s it say?” Pansy asked, peering over her own letter. 

“He’s inviting me for tea on Saturday. Wanna come?” Harry said, finishing the last of his eggs. 

“No thanks,” Pansy admonished as if Harry had told her to come with her to visit a dragon’s lair. 

“Ok… Draco?” Harry asked, turning to face the person in question. 

“Sure. Saturday right?” Draco said, finishing the eggs on his plate. 

“Yeah. He lives in the little hut by the forest, I think. We can just ask Professor Snape, though,” Harry said, tucking the letter into his bag, and pushing the last bit of bacon into his mouth, then started to gather his things to leave. 

“Let’s go. We’ve got Herbology with the Gryffindors first today,” Blaise said, pulling Pansy out of her seat, then following her out of the Great Hall. 

Draco and Harry followed them, Greg and Vince trailing a few feet behind them like bodyguards.

“This’ll be fun,” Harry heard Draco mumble as they stepped into the Greenhouse. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? Also, over 250 kudos? Thank you, everyone, for staying with me and all of your great support!  
> \- Safa


	13. Authors Note (Againnnnnnn)

Ok, so I'm pretty sure all of you hate me now, and my excuses are lame. But here's why I have a hard time updating regularly. My parents absolutely loathe the fact that I'd much rather write stories and poems than sit down with a calculator and do some math or physics. My father especially hates me because I told him I didn't want to be an engineer, and instead, I wanted to teach and write. My mother hates me for letting my father down. So I'm sorry for not being able to write so much. Also, I'm travelling (Againnnnnnn), so I can only write when I have time and on my phone. Hence the terrible grammer and editing in this authors note.I am slowly writing the next chapter as best as I can on a phone though, so bear with me. I will post it as soon as I can, but edit it when I get back home!  
Apologies again,  
Safa M.N.K


	14. Pansy Finds Out (Read: Draco Told Pansy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post! I'll explain it in the second Author's Note!

The rest of the day passed without incident, apart from an explosion in Potions, on Neville’s part, of course. Dinner was an interesting ordeal for Harry and Draco, the other Slytherins taking bets on what the mysterious morning meetings with Professor Snape were about. 

As far as that went, only Flint and Gemma Farley knew. Gemma had caught them sneaking out that morning when she began her Prefect rounds and had been warned by Snape to keep quiet about it. 

Blaise bad bet that the both of them were really sneaking off to meet up with girls, whereas Theo Nott had a Galleon on them having detentions with Filch, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts. Most of the wagers were ridiculous, if Harry was being honest, especially the rumor that Harry and Draco were engaging in Dark Magic with the help of Professor Snape. 

Draco and Harry were left to talk to each other as the Slytherin boys began to argue over the bets, and the girls attempted to quiet them down. 

“Why can’t you just tell us what you two prats have been sneaking off to do?” Blaise whined, turning to face the two boys who were giggling silently. 

“Oi! You’ll find out soon enough, git!” Draco said, mocking indignation at Blaise’s name-calling. 

Pansy narrowed her eyes at Draco and Harry, and asked, “Will we now?” She stalked over to them and plopped in between them, “All right then. What have you two got planned?” she whispered. 

Draco looked around, and though Blaise was staring at them, he wouldn’t be able to hear them.

He leaned towards Pansy a bit, and whispered back, “Snape’s put me and Harry on the Quidditch team. He wanted to surprise Gryffindor with us at the first game.” 

Pansy's eyes, widened, and she whipped around to face Draco, “For real? You’re not having me on, are you?” 

Draco scoffed, “Yes, for real. Why would we joke about something like this? Come to practice with us tomorrow. We’re meeting the rest of the team at dawn on the pitch.” 

Pansy hummed her agreement, then got up and took her place beside Blaise again. 

“We’ll have to tell Snape about her, you know,” Harry said, stacking his cup and utensils onto the plate. 

“Yeah. But Pansy can keep her secrets, trust me,” Draco replied, finishing his dinner, and standing up to leave, “Let’s go study for a bit before bed. We have midnight Astronomy _and_ We’re brewing another cure for boils in potions tomorrow, and I’d like to read the chapter on it again.”

At the Library, Neville had invited Harry and Draco to sit with him and Hermione but ran off after 10 minutes calling out for Trevor. Hermione had gotten herself invited to visit Hagrid with Harry after she started to recite parts of _Hogwarts: A History_. 

The rest of the night passed in a blur for both Harry and Draco, having been thoroughly tired out by Quidditch training. 

The next morning, Pansy met Harry and Draco in the common room, following them as they led the way to the Quidditch pitch. 

“You have to say you followed us here, alright?” Draco had told Pansy before they’d left, and had Pansy fall back further. 

When they arrived, the rest of the team was already there, but Flint quickly introduced the team to the two first-years and their positions. Miles Bletchley, a fourth-year with dirty blonde hair, and quite short, considering he was the equivalent to a Goalkeeper. Adrian Pucey, a surprisingly tall 3rd year had been introduced as the third chaser, the other two being Draco and Flint, of course. Thomas Avery and Christopher Wilmer, both fourth-years had been playing beater for Slytherin since their second year. And Harry was the Slytherin Seeker. 

Almost as soon as Professor Snape finished his speech about the first Quidditch match being in barely a week, and how they had to beat Gryffindor, once and for all, Pansy stumbled out from behind the school the Quidditch stands. 

" _This_ is what you two have been sneaking off to do?" She asked in feigned shock. 

"Miss Parkinson, you most definitely should _not_ be here!" Professor Snape snapped, recovering quickly from his surprise.

"Sorry, Professor Snape. It's just that the boys have been sneaking out every morning, and no one knows why!" Pansy said, a meek expression carefully schooled in her features.

The professor sighed, and said, "That's enough out of you, Miss Parkinson. You may sit and watch, but you are not to distract Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy." 

"Yes, sir!" Pansy said, a smile spreading on her face, as she skipped to the Slytherin stands, and carefully sat on the grass at the base of the tower. 

"That show may have worked with any other teacher, but I scarcely think I've led you to believe I am stupid, Draco," Snape said, narrowing his eyes at Draco and Harry. 

Draco grinned, and cheekily replied, "No sir!" while Harry pushed his glasses up to hide his smile. 

At the end of practice, Professor Snape announced, “There shall be no training tomorrow, seeing it is the first weekend of the year, but I expect to see everyone training double on Sunday. Understood?” he looked over the team as they nodded, then settled on Harry, “And if I could speak to you for a moment, Mr Potter.” 

Shooing Draco to collect Pansy, Harry made his way to his Head of House, and said, “Sir?”

“I trust you know where my private offices are, Mr Potter?” When Harry nodded, he continued, “If you decide to take up my offer, I shall see you there at 7:30 p.m tonight. I sincerely hope you do. After all, Mr Malfoy has been the only other student who has been given such an opportunity.” 

Then he dismissed harry to take a shower and gather his books to get to breakfast.

At breakfast, Harry received another letter from Hagrid, this time saying,   
_Come down to the cabin by the forest at 3 tomorrow._  
 _Hagrid_

Harry quickly penned down an affirmation and sent it with the owl that had brought Hagrid's note.

After another boring lesson in History of Magic, another explosion in Potions- on Seamus Finnigan's part this time- and another day spent in Charms attempting the levitation charm, Draco found himself quite literally pushing Harry to Professor Snape's private offices. 

"I know you want to go, so go!" Draco told Harry, pulling on the sleeve of his friend's robes. 

"But Draco-" 

"Don't make me go and get Pansy," Draco warned.

Fine!" Harry said, exasperatedly pulling his sleeve away from Draco, and stalking after him.

In the end, Draco had been the one to knock on the door rather than Harry. When the door opened, The professor's lips were twitching with amusement, from obviously knowing Harry's hesitation. 

"Come inside, Mr Potter. You as well, Mr Malfoy, since it seems Potter here cannot function without you," Snape said, allowing both boys to enter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short after so long. Thank you for your patience! What happened was, once we got back, my brother punched my computer and shattered my screen. For the time being, I'm using a school school chromebook. Which is monitored. socI have to use my phone to write and post. Which is why this chapter isn't edited.Winter Break is over though, so I can write between classes now! I'm already halfway through the next chapters, so I'll be ready to post in a week at most!!! Thanks for being so understanding!!!!  
> \- Safa


	15. Potions Lessons and Forbidden Corridors With Three-Headed Dogs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is late, High School is ROUGH. I hope you like it! It is still short though.

Professor Snape led Draco and Harry through his private office, behind his desk, and tapped the wall, whispering, “Lilium Flos Ruber,” under his breath. Harry and Draco watched in fascination as the wall peeled away to reveal an additional potions lab. 

“These are my private potions lab, where I often brew potions required by Madam Pomfrey,” Snape said, gesturing around them.

“I’ve never been  _ here  _ before,” Draco commented, looking at the hundreds of ingredients stacked on the two large oak shelves behind the table. 

“That is because I don’t quite think it wise to bring someone under the age of 10, and with less than capable abilities where there might be dangerous items,” Professor Snape replied wrly, gesturing at some of the ingredients already laid out on the table, “For our first lesson, I believe it would be sufficient for the two of you to assist me in brewing some potions for the Infirmary,” 

When he tapped the table with his wand, saying “Pepper-up”, words appeared on the table, which turned out to be a detailed recipe for Pepper-up Potion. 

“While Pepper-up is fairly simple, the Mandrake roots must be handled well, and I most definitely do not trust First nor Second Years with Mandrake root,” at Draco’s skeptical expression, Professor Snape sighed and said, “I do not trust  _ other  _ first years with this.” 

Harry grinned, Draco smirking, but at the Professor’s glare, they rushed to begin the potion. 

After an hour and many “Oi, pass me the knife,”s and “Quit it you git!”s, two batches of Pepper-up Potion stood proudly on the table. One was perfect, made by Professor Snape, of course. The other nearly the same, save for the orange tinge, the result of both boys messing around. 

Professor Snape picked up a vial from Harry and Draco’s batch and held it in front of his face scrutinizing it. 

“Hm…” The professor mused, “It could’ve done with a little more powdered moon berries, but it is surprisingly competent.”   
Cleaned up and dismissed, Harry and Draco set out, laughing and shoving, wandering carelessly before they had to go back to their dorm. Both boys quickly lost track of time, and somehow found themselves in the Forbidden Third Floor Corridor. 

“Harry! Listen!” Draco gasped as footsteps began filling the empty hallway. Draco’s eyes widened and recognizing their surroundings he immediately pulled Harry into the nearest door. With a quick whisper, Draco cast a Tempus charm, revealing it to be well after curfew. 

“Harry! It’s nearly midnight!” Draco exclaimed, but Harry wasn’t looking at Draco, “Harry?” 

“Draco…” He began, “Are you seeing this too, or is it just me,” Harry said, tugging on Draco’s robe. 

“Wh- OH DEAR MERLIN!” Draco screamed as he turned around. 

There stood a huge three-headed dog, all three tongues out and lolling, a rotten smell coming from their mouths. Their eyes glinted with something akin to hunger… though with a touch of curiosity, perhaps.

“So… It’s not just me. Good to know,” Harry said, his voice trembling. 

“Let’s GO!” Draco said, yanking the door back open, pulling Harry with him as he stumbled out of the room. As soon as they had regained their footing, they set off running as fast as they could to the dungeons, where Draco breathlessly whispered the password, allowing both of them to slip through the stone door into the common room. When they had, at last, caught their breath, Harry looked around the common room, which to his relief, was empty. They quickly made their way to their dorm, quietly slipping inside, carefully not to wake up their dormmates. Which was quite useless, since they seemed to have been waiting for Harry and Draco. 

“ _ Where _ have you two been?! We’ve been looking all over for you, and Pansy has been worried sick! You didn’t even come in for curfew, and-”. 

“Oh shut it Zabini. They’ve probably been out with some girls,” Theo Nott sneered, cutting off Blaise’s nervous rant. 

“We have not been with girls,” Draco replied loftily, “If you must know, Harry and I had a potions lesson with Professor Snape, and we…” He hesitated a second, glancing at Harry before continuing, “and we got a bit lost when we were exploring the castle,” 

“You went to the Forbidden Corridor, didn’t you?” Theo snapped back. 

“Of course not. Do you  _ really _ think me so stupid as to do something that would get us expelled?” Draco huffed, expertly taking control of the situation. 

“NO, of  _ course  _ not,” Nott drawled, before settling back into bed, “Well, if you lot are done with your nonsense, I’d like to finally get some sleep now.” 

Before Draco could get into his bed, Harry quickly whispered, “We need to talk about this later, alright?” 

“Saturday. We can ask Hagrid why there’s a  _ Cerberus  _ in the school,” Draco said, his nose wrinkling slightly as he said the Gamekeeper’s name. 

“Cerberus… The three-headed dog that guards the Underworld in Greek Mythology?” Harry mused. 

“The very same. Though it’s not quite mythology. And there are a few other Cerberi, not just the single one in the Underworld,” Draco replied. 

“Oh. Well, good night then, Draco,” Harry said, ducking into his bed curtains. 

“Good night, Harry,” Draco said, settling into his own bed and closing his eyes. Tomorrow would be rather boring, but it was the start of the term’s first weekend. It would certainly be very interesting because something very strange was going on at this school. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? Thanks for all the kudos, bookmarks, comments, feedback, everything! And thanks for all your support.   
> \- Safa


	16. A Little Explanation

Hello everyone. The next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow or the day after, but in the mean time, I'd like to explain a few things, so some things will make more sense.  
First off, I'm explaining Harry's mentality. Children who were/are physically or emotionally abused tend to have a very interesting mental state. They can go from acting like they're 30, to acting like a 5 year old in sheer minutes. I know this from experience because I do the same thing. I can go from being really mature to throwing a tantrum within minutes. This is because we've experienced things we shouldn't have, which causes us to 'grow up', but also lapsing into the childhood we wish we had. Which is why Harry will be fluctuating from mature to childish really often.  
Also, children who were neglected, meaning they didn't get (much) love from their parents/guardians, and possibly watched said parents/guardians give their love to someone else, tend to form strong attachments easily to people who show that they love or care. Basically meaning that they're clingy. I'm clingy. Some also prefer using and being called pet names (such as love or baby). For example, since I've had a younger sibling since I was almost 1, which is far earlier than I can remember, and I remember never getting anything because I was the middle child. Now I have an additional 2 younger siblings, and I watch everyday as my parents layer love on top of them, but just yell when it comes to me. So, I tend to call the youngest two Baby and Love, respectively, rather than using their names. I'm also a lot closer to my friends and certain cousins than I am to my own siblings and parents. In this case, Harry has already gotten so attached to his Slytherin friends because they've shown that they care. And if he has any romantic relations in the future, which he will, he would prefer per names like Love and Darling, and will most likely use them in return.  
Also, we're unusually great with children. We understand what they want and need greater than anyone, and we want them to feel as loved as we wish we did. And so if there happens to be any babies or young children in this story, Harry will be very good with them.  
I'm probably also going to add in a few panic attacks, since I get those a lot too. 

Second, I'm going to set some groundwork about Hogwarts. Curfew is 9:30 pm on weekdays but, and 10 pm on weekends. First years are not allowed to use the Quidditch pitch recreationally, but 3rd years and up are. Classes start at 8 am, breakfast at 7, and classes are done by 3:15 pm. The Hogwarts Library is open from 6 am to 9 pm. The restricted section is open to 6th year and up considering most materials needed for some of the advanced classes are in the restricted section.

That's it for now, but I'll add more as we go. Please excuse how dark the first part was, I was trying to add some evidence to my logic. Also, I'm mostly fine, my parents aren't physical or anything, it's emotional and mental.  
The next chapter, like I said will be uploaded either tomorrow or the day after! See you all then!!!  
\- Safa


End file.
